Magical Elves Returns as ‘Project Runway’ Producer

Magical Elves will produce Project Runway on Bravo, just as the production company did for the first five seasons of the series. Pre-production has begun and the series will premiere in 2019.

Magical Elves also produces Top Chef for Bravo.

Project Runway has truly come full circle with the Magical Elves on board,” said Shari Levine, executive VP, current production, Bravo. “Jane Lipsitz and Dan Cutforth have been incredible producing partners with us through the years on multiple fronts. We blazed a trail with the first seasons of Project Runway on Bravo, and now look forward to beginning the next evolution of the franchise with the team that was so instrumental in developing the format.”

Bravo launched Project Runway in 2004, where it aired through 2008 before shifting to Lifetime. It now returns to Bravo for season 17.

The Weinstein Company had previously owned Project Runway. Last month, Lantern Capital emerged as the winner in the bankruptcy auction for Weinstein Company.

“We could not be more thrilled to return as the producers of Project Runway,” says Dan Cutforth, co-founder, Magical Elves, “We built the series from the ground up with Bravo and it is part of the DNA of our company.”

Magical Elves also produces Braxton Family Values for We TV and Cold Justice for Oxygen.

“Dan and I have always loved Runway so much and we can’t wait to return to it with a renewed creative energy,” says Jane Lipsitz, co-founder, Magical Elves. “We are really excited to reflect some of the incredible changes that have happened in the fashion world since we last produced the series.”

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.